Sunday March 1st from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

If you were unable to sign up before, now is your chance! Design & produce your own shadow puppet! Puppeteer Caryl Kientz will teach kids how to make their own shadow puppets, create a storyline & put on a complete show for on-looking parents & friends. Total workshop time is 3 hours. Teacher Caryl Kientz has worked with puppets for the last 8 years, performing across the United States & working with such groups as Shadowlight Productions, Apocalypse Puppet Theater & Cardboard Institute of Technology.

Paxton Gate’s Curiosities for Kids for cost & availability: 766 Valencia St., San Francisco.

Thursday, March 5, 7:00 PM

Watchmen – Cartoon Art Museum Benefit Screening

Tickets: $25-$250

Call 415-227-8666, ext. 300 to purchase tickets, or visit the Cartoon Art Museum admissions desk during our normal hours of operation.
Tickets must be purchased before Thursday, March 5, 2009. Details follow.
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February 27 through March 1

WonderCon, the first major comics and pop culture convention of 2009, takes place at San Francisco’s Moscone Center South. For more information on WonderCon, please visit Comic-Con International’s official website.

If you want to get in on the action early, try this:

Friday, February 27, 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM

Cartoon Art Museum Benefit: WonderCon Weekend Party

Admission to this ticketed event will be on a sliding scale from $10 to $35, with guests encouraged to contribute whatever they can to support the Cartoon Art Museum. Many of the featured artists and special WonderCon guests will be in attendance, including featured guests Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons and Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai.

Rare and signed books, prints and artwork will be raffled and auctioned throughout the evening, and additional special events and guests will be announced as the event approaches. Special exhibitions featuring the comic art and props from the upcoming Warner Bros. film Watchmen; a look back at 25 years of Stan Sakai’s critically acclaimed comic book Usagi Yojimbo; a spotlight on legendary Silver Age comics creator Gene Colan; and highlights from the Cartoon Art Museum’s archives will be on display.

The Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission Street, San Francisco

We still have a bunch of readings in store for you this month.
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Tuesday, February 17, 7:00 PM

Join Dave Gibbons as he discusses his Hugo Award-winning graphic novel, Watchmen. Arguably the most honored graphic novel ever created, Watchmen was named one of the 100 Best Novels of all time by Time Magazine. After the discussion, Dave will take questions from the audience and also demonstrate his illustrations.

The Apple Store San Francisco, One Stockton Street

Potlatch 18 at the Domain Hotel in Sunnyvale
February 27 – March 1
Potlatch, the convention, is an all-volunteer, non-profit, literary event for the readers and writers of speculative fiction. At Potlatch, people talk to each other and participate in panel discussions about reading and writing speculative fiction. You’ll find conversations at the program events, in Algonquins (spontaneous member-generated programming), in writers workshops, in the con suite, in the halls, and in elevators. Proceeds from Potlatch benefit Clarion West — an intensive six-week workshop for writers who are preparing for professional careers in science fiction and fantasy. Borderlands Books and Tachyon Publications will be on hand in the Dealers’ Room, and this is always an enjoyable convention.

While we are not hosting any movies in February, please join us for a special evening with author James Morrow on Wed., March 11th. We will be starting a little earlier to accommodate our program, so doors will open at 6:00PM, and the program will start at 6:30PM. There will be a short intermission between films. FREE POPCORN! Cash bar proceeds and tips benefit Variety’s Children’s Charity.

Lon Chaney, Jr. Film Festival

Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) – 68 minutes
The Mummy’s Curse (1944) – 62 minutes

Award-winning science fiction author and armchair cineaste James Morrow, author of Towing Jehovah, The Last Witchfinder, and The Philosopher’s Apprentice, will be introducing two Lon Chaney, Jr, monster movies Ghost of Frankenstein and The Mummy’s Curse — two classic 1940’s “B” movies featuring Lon Chaney, Jr.

Morrow’s most recent novella, a postmodern extravaganza entitled Shambling Towards Hiroshima, recounts the extraordinary adventures of Syms Thorley, a Hollywood horror actor based on Chaney, Jr. In 1945 Syms’s career takes a bizarre turn when the U.S. Navy hires him to don a rubber lizard suit and impersonate the giant mutant iguana Gorgantis, a new and terrifying biological weapon that might if Syms can give a sufficiently persuasive performance convince the Japanese to lay down their arms. The book will be will be available for sale at the event, featuring a spectacular cover design by Ann Monn. Check it out here at Tachyon.

As usual there are plenty of good books up for discussion.
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The podcasts from our January reading, featuring Aimee Bender and Sean Stewart, are now available. You can find the links here.

This film charts the story of two landmark Bay Area independent bookstores and their struggle to survive. It follows Andy Ross of Cody’s Books, and Clark Kepler of Kepler’s Books, over the course of two tumultuous years in the book business. It will be shown at Clayton Books at 3:00pm on Saturday, February 7.